New Delhi, March 12 -- The National Statistical Office (NSO) recently released the first revised estimates of India's gross domestic product (GDP) for 2023-24, revising the GDP growth rate at constant prices from the earlier provisional estimate of 8.2% to 9.2%.

This revision, which brought annual growth to one of the highest levels in the post-covid period, sparked considerable debate in the media as well as on social media over India's data quality and statistical governance. Surprisingly, even well-informed commentators demonstrated a lack of understanding about the reasons behind variations in GDP estimates.

This article explains the factors contributing to these revisions in National Account estimates and explores possible improvem...